Chapter Five - Grandma gives a hand.
"This is the place?" Nico looked at the crammed courts.
I glanced at him and saw his blank expression, guess the place wasn't as great as I'd thought.
"Yup, this is home." I smiled, sticking my hands in my short pockets and walking on the court.
I was wearing black shorts with a white sleeveless shirt and my favorite pair of red and black Jordan 11's that I received for Christmas. I'd also brought a backpack so I could change straight into my plane outfit.
"Where'd you get those shoes?" Nico asked as I sat my backpack down and began stretching.
"Foster Parents," I said. "And before you ask, No I didn't have any parents."
Nico was silent behind me before I turned and found him right next to me, staring at the court. It caught me off guard but I managed not to jump back.
"Me neither," He side eyed me. "At least not for long."
I yawned and stood straight, he wasn't anywhere near my height. Then I realized something, glancing at him nervously.
"Hey," I cleared my throat. "How old are you?"
"Why?" He narrowed his eyes on me.
"Just curious." I lied.
"Uh huh," He sighed. "I'm twelve."
Yeah, no. Let's keep this friendly, and many of you may say 'Oh a two year gap isn't even that bad-'
Shut up. I've never even dated somebody, let alone let it be a guy that's younger than me.
I nodded and called out, "We got next."
Nico frowned, "What's that mean?"
"We're next on the court." I popped my knuckles.
"Wait, we're playing?" He looked at me like I was crazy.
I nodded in a sarcastic way, stepping onto the court as the other team was cleared off.
He hesitantly followed and stayed behind me as a familiar face popped up.
"Yooo is that Morf?" A tall black guy walked towards me with a smile.
"What up Terrance," I grinned and he dapped me up. "Been a minute, you on the other team?"
"Nah I got cleared off with these bums," He scoffed and I looked past him to find some guys scowling at him. "You on?"
I nodded and he pointed his thumb at himself.
"Sure." I glanced at Nico who was in my shadow, not exactly hiding but ignoring us.
"Who's the emo?" T asked.
"That's Nico," I stepped to the side and Nico peered up at T. "He's our third of five."
T glanced at me and grimaced before shrugging and walking to some guys, "I'll grab some friends for the other two spots."
"Thanks!" I called and he waved.
I turned with a smile towards Nico, his face was full of what I could tell was everything BUT amusement.
"What?" I asked.
"How long are we playing?" He asked.
"Until we lose duh." I grinned.
"Then we should be done quickly." He said and went to lean on the post.
I don't blame him for thinking that especially since he'd probably never played this, judging from the figure his Dad gave me. It was a Zeus Figure, some sort of joke I figured.
Anyways, we played for hours. We hadn't lost one despite Nico being like five-two and padded with sweat. When we did finish it was near around 4, which was unfortunate since my flight was at 5:30.
"Finally!" Nico gasped as we stepped off the court. He collapsed onto his butt and laid down, the concrete around him turned dark from his sweat and I laughed.
"Pretty fun wasn't it?" I grinned.
"No, no it wasn't!" He croaked. "Who would play this for fun?"
I shrugged and grabbed my bag, rummaging through it to find the burner phone that Jackie had given me.
"I gotta head out," I said while checking the time and tossing it back in my bag. "Catch you once I get back?"
He snapped up and looked at me, "What?Where are you headed?"
"Out of town," I scratched my neck. "Got some family to see on the west coast."
Nico eyed me, eyes gleaming.
"And you're just gonna leave me here?" He opened his arms.
"Yeah," I smiled. "Gotta catch a flight in less than an hour, but you should get some practice."
I waved towards the guys and walked out of the court area, noticing that Nico was behind me.
Poor guy was still out of breath.
"What are you doing?" I maneuvered around a kissing couple and down the subway stairs.
"I'm just seeing that you get on your train." He said.
"Okay well," I turned and flicked his head softly. "Get back to Camp and tell Drew I'll be back."
He stood on the stairs as I turned and continued through the security point.
"Are you and her…a thing?" He called out.
"Ugh no," I shook the goosebumps off. "As…cool as she is and how thoughtful her Mother is, we are not together."
I thought I heard a sigh of relief but it could've just been the homeless guy on the floor passing gas.
Continuing onto the subway I had to stand because of the seats being filled, a nice old lady smiled at me and I returned it. The subway was full of randoms, some playing music, others just minding their business, but one person caught my attention.
It was a doorman, you know those guys you see at rich places standing in front of those weird spinning doors.
Yeah. That type of doorman.
I blinked and he was gone, almost like the incident at the park.
"Gods…" I muttered.
The subway stopped and I was launched into the back of a buff, bald, guy with a mustache. He turned and scowled at me.
"Sorry." I said quickly, glancing at the stop and hopping off.
I hurried up the subway stairs and onto the busy sidewalk in front of the JFK Airport.
"Hurry up," I looked around and found Jackie and Roger staring at me annoyed. "We'll be late!"
We hurried into the place, grabbing our tickets after a long line of wait, and got to the security point.
"Oh Gods," Roger groaned. "We're gonna be late."
I nodded in agreement and noticed Jackie staring at something, looking in the direction she was facing I found a man waving at us. We looked at each other and approached him. He was wearing brown shorts, a bright green button shirt, and a hat with loafers.
"Hi guys!" He smiled. "I noticed you guys are in a bit of a bind and wanted to extend an open hand."
"Who are you?" Roger asked suspiciously.
"Oh what does it matter?" He asked and snapped his fingers, a breeze of rainy smelling wind roamed by and the security guards that guarded the area that people were only allowed to come out of suddenly fell asleep.
We all glanced at each other, slowly reaching for our weapons.
"They're not dead," He smiled even wider. "Now let's get you to that plane!"
He walked down the open path and looked back at us, beckoning us forward.
"You'll be late!" He called and we followed.
We walked down the path and he hummed joyfully in front of us, the fragrance that trailed behind him smelt of rain, tulips, and dirt.
Really really nice smelling dirt.
"What's with this guy?" I whispered to them and Roger shrugged unsure.
"It's Zephyros," Jackie murmured. "God of Spring and West winds."
Roger let out a oo, "I love spring!"
We looked up to see if Zephyros noticed and he was gone, suddenly the smell of dirt smelled stronger.
"Glad to hear you're enjoying my season!" Zephyros chuckled behind us and I nearly jumped out of my shorts. "Can't wait for next year's tulip bloom, now your gate is that way."
He pointed towards the left and began going right, "Say hello to Reyna, and there's a bathroom right in front of your gate so you can change Morf!"
I frowned and glanced at the other two, they shrugged and we continued to the gate. I stopped by the bathroom to change into some gray sweats, a white t-shirt, and a gray zip up hoodie with my favorite all black Bulls Cap.
Yes, I forgot to pack another pair of shoes so I was stuck in my Jordans.
I returned to Jackie and Roger who were now standing in line, waving at me.
"Already?" I frowned and joined them.
We boarded the plane, grabbing out seats on the plane, and sitting down.
I gripped the seats as we took off, it was my first time out of the state on board a plane.
Once we were in the air Roger fell asleep and I sat in silence with Jackie.
"So," I cleared my throat. "Irene?"
I'm sorry you guys, it had been in my head since we finished the games.
"What about her?" She asked.
"Can we talk about her?" I asked.
She sighed and sat up straight, "Where do I start?"
"How about when you guys got to camp?" I asked.
She thought about it, nodding as she agreed.
"About several years ago, we went to camp together," She yawned. "We grew up together…me and her, but we met Roger at our school, eventually it got too dangerous around normal people because of monsters." I nodded and she continued, "They all decided to send us away to camp and we got there safely, which is complete luck but we did it." The plane shook and I winced, noticing a slight smile from her that quickly faded.
"We stayed tight with each other, up until the Labyrinth," Her eyes slightly closed. The what now? "Then she disappeared, we even had someone go into the Labyrinth…he went crazy with Chris and…he didn't come back."
Her eyes were puffy, she wasn't crying but was close.
"Then we found her, a few months later on the battlefield," She wiped her eyes. "Fighting for Kronos."
I opened my mouth and nothing came out, mainly because I knew the answer. That's where the story ends, because she turned away and began sleeping.
I peered out the window, sun setting on the horizon.
My eyes slowly closed and I was once again in a dark world, except this time my Father wasn't there.
A woman wearing flowing pink robes with poppies on them stood in his place, her brown hair had a wreath of flowers in it, and her green eyes stared into my soul.
"Hello Morf," She smiled softly, a warm feeling started in my stomach. "It's nice to finally meet Irene's brother…she told me about you in her dreams."
I frowned, unable to speak.
Irene? Irene knows who I am?
"Ah yes," She sighed and sat on a body of pure air. "You aren't strong enough to speak yet…very well."
She waved her hand and the black area transformed into a room with wooden rocking chairs, dream catchers hanging from the roof, and flower lights all around. It was dark outside the giant window, it overlooked a river.
"You can speak now," She flicked her hair. "I do find my son's domain quite troublesome."
"Your son?" I blurted out and caught myself.
"Yes, your Father." She smiled.
I frowned again, cocking my head diagonally.
"Your son is my Dad?" I asked again like a complete idiot.
Yes, I'm slow.
She laughed, covering her mouth and wiping a single tear from her left eye…or right eye? I don't know, I'm slow…pretty sure it's the left though.
"I'm Pasithea, your Grandmother," She smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"Hello Grandmother?" I frowned, confused.
"Just call me Pas," She waved and a breeze of relaxing wind grazed my cheek. "I see that Zephyros did his job."
"You sent him?" I asked and shook my head. "Nevermind that, what were you talking about when you mentioned Irene?"
She pursed her lips, "That I cannot tell you…as it conflicts with your quest."
I stood quickly and then fell just a quick to my knees, she shook her head.
"It's a very relaxing room dear," She held her hand out and a cup of what looked like herbal tea appeared in it. "You won't be able to stand."
"Why?" I sat leaning against the rocking chair.
"It's what I do," She sipped her tea. "I'm the Goddess of Rest and Relaxation."
"No, why can't you tell me about Irene?" I shook my head.
"Because it conflicts with your que-," She looked around. "Seems as though our meeting must be cut short…Zeus has called for an Olympian Meeting, Unfortunately I must attend."
She stood and walked over to the door, opening it and stepping through, and glancing at me one last time.
"Do take care of yourself…and make the right decision once you see her." She pursed her lips before smiling.
"Wait!" I called weakly and she shut the door.
I opened my eyes to find Jackie and Roger standing in the aisle, with their hands on my shoulders.
"Are you okay?" Roger asked anxiously.
"Yeah…what happened while I was out?" I frowned and they glanced at each other.
"Let's go," Jackie helped me up and Roger grabbed my backpack. "We've gotta get off before they call security."
We hurried off the empty plane, apologizing to the waiting attendants, and pilots.
It wasn't until we were outside that they stopped and glared at me.
"What?" I asked.
"He came onto the flight and asked for you," She pointed to a man sitting on a stone bench. "He said Pas sent him?"
"Who the Styx is Pas?" Roger asked, his nails were short as he went to bite them. Jackie smacked his hand and he yelped slightly, the figure turned and waved.
His skin color was gray, smile was missing teeth and yellow, eyes were abnormally dark, and his clothes were pajamas?
Why was he wearing pajamas?
"What's with the pajamas?" I looked at them and Jackie's right eye twitched.
"You're more worried about the fact he's wearing pajamas than him being a Zombie?" She grit her teeth.
I thought about it for a moment, "...Yeah?"
She pushed me towards him and glared at me.
"Find out what he wants." She said with her fists clenched.
"Okay, okay." I stretched as I walked over to the slumber fest corpse.
What's with her?
I approached the man and he smiled, revealing even more missing teeth.
"Hello Morf," He stood and stuck out his hand. "I'm Adonis, your Grandmother sent me."
I glanced at his hand and back at him and he retracted it.
"Ah sorry! Forgot that you can turn into one of us." He grinned. "Anyways I'm here to guide you to Camp!"
That didn't look like an accident.
"She sent you to guide us?" I frowned. "Why are you helping her exactly?"
He yawned, no air came out of his mouth though.
"I owe her since she restored my ability to think," He smiled. "Forever faithful to the Goddess of Rest! Anyways let's get going so I can go back to Club Pas."
I frowned and beckoned the others forward, they inched to us slowly.
"This is Adonis, My Grandmother Pasithea, sent him to get us to Camp." I frowned even more now that I thought about it. Why would she send someone to interfere with our quest if she can't tell me about Irene?
A PERSON WHO IS APART OF MY QUEST!?
"That's confusing." I crossed my arms.
"What is? The fact a zombie can speak or the pajama part?" Roger asked and Adonis grinned harder.
"Neither, I thought Gods weren't allowed to interfere with Quest." I huffed.
"They can, not directly though…so no information giving, helping directly, or anything of the sort…but they can send others to interfere!" Adonis pointed at himself, his bones popping.
Jackie and Roger looked at each other, "Let's get to this other Camp."
"ONWARDS!" Adonis roared enthusiastically and marched towards a green Volkswagen Samba.
"Oh Gods." Jackie groaned.
"Right on." Roger grinned and caught up with Adonis as he opened the back.